A Monthly Speculative Fiction Reading Series

Photos from Nov 20th with James Patrick Kelly & Mercurio D. Rivera

James Patrick Kelly & Mercurio D. Rivera In the fall in Manhattan, the sun sets too soon and the air nips with the sharpening teeth of the winter to come. Yet before we reach for that drink to put warmth in our bellies, we pause to consider the impetuous humans in Mercurio D. Rivera’s “Dance of the Kawkaroons,” who sneak onto an alien planet to steal “Inspiration” in the form of bird eggs to raise their spirits and intelligence. And now we are not so sure we want that drink. And Mr. Kelly, after hearing him read “Soulcatcher,” a punishment device resembling a rug of flesh, where “Tangles of veins and arteries, bruise-blue and red, squiggle as blood surges; hairy bundles of ganglia connect the minds of the colony of the damned.” Shall we ever look at a Persian rug the same way again? In case you wish to glimpse our delighted faces during that fun autumn evening, you might venture over to Ellen’s Flickr page and have a look.